First of all, prepare the meat sauce by chopping up all the vegetables ( except the tomato) and browning them in 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. When they have taken on color, add the minced meat, raise the heat and cook over a medium flame for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon

Add the tomatoes or the purée, season with salt and pepper and leave to simmer very gently for an hour ( but it is fine if you allow it to cook for longer), stirring with a wooden spoon form time to time.

Cook the rigatoni in plenty of salted, boiling water and drain when the pasta id practically half-cooked. Put the ragù into a large saucepan, put in the rigatoni and allow to finish cooking – the Italian term “strascicati” means “dragged through the sauce”.